Shocking footage shows border officers slashing open plastic-wrapped beds strapped to a white vehicle at a check-point near Melilla on the north African coast and Morocco.
(Jon Inarritu Twitter)

Two African migrants have been discovered hidden inside bed mattresses strapped to a van in a desperate bid to reach Europe.

Both young Africans were discovered alive and did not need medical help, local newspapers reported.

Why it matters: After hundreds of years of brutal slave trade by Europeans and Americans that devastated Africa, followed by exploitative colonialism and neo-colonialism by the West, as well as corruption by African leaders, many young Africans who have been condemned to a life of squalor and hopelessness often embark on life-threatening journeys at sea or Sahara Desert to reach Europe for greener pastures.

Spanish senator Jon Inarritu who shared the footage on Twitter said “As long as there are no safe routes to request asylum, situations like this will continue to occur in the southern border of Europe.”

Shocking footage shows border officers slashing open plastic-wrapped beds strapped to a white vehicle at a check-point near Melilla on the north African coast and Morocco. (Jon Inarritu Twitter)

The shocking footage showed border officers slashing open plastic-wrapped beds strapped to a white vehicle at a check-point near Melilla on the north African coast and Morocco.

One man, dressed in a black and white T-shirt with black jeans, is seen emerging looking dazed.

The second man, in a blue Reebok T-shirt, then comes out of a second mattress before walking around the corner and sitting down.

I was born in a small village in Cameroon, groomed in Nigeria’s most populous city of Lagos, and moved to Washington D.C. to practice journalism at a global level. From here in the American capital, I ask big questions to leaders around the world, and focus on business, investment and politics in Africa. Back in Africa while doing my job, I was kidnapped, dumped in the woods and left for dead but survived, only to be attacked at gunpoint by sea pirates, arrested by security forces and falsely accused of being a spy for terrorists. As the publisher of TODAY NEWS AFRICA, I do not have the budget of Fox News, CNN or Amazon. I raise money through donations on patreon.com/todaynewsafrica.

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